Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am opposing amendment No. 10, which places a duty on the owner of a vacant site to register with the local authority by 1 January 2016 or face a fine. Deputy Wallace also mentioned this earlier. Such a proposal would be in contravention of the principle of fair procedures and administration for such measures, which I have already referred to. The provisions of the Bill were drafted taking account of these principles, particularly the timeframes and procedures involved, to ensure that they are fair and proportionate.

The Bill provides that the planning authority is responsible for administering the levy provisions in their functional areas by establishing and maintaining the vacant site register and identifying vacant sites consisting of residential or regeneration land on the basis of the criteria outlined in sections 5 and 6, and applying the levy charge as appropriate. It could not be expected, nor is it likely, that individual site owners would be able to undertake the consideration of their own sites and determine whether or not they are vacant in accordance with the criteria set out in the Bill. It is the planning authority, or An Bord Pleanála on appeal, that is in the best position to make this determination.

On that basis, we oppose amendment No. 10.